February 18-25 In late February, the five of us NSLI-Y girls headed to Varanasi, the oldest continuously inhabited city in the world. AFS and NSLI-Y, our hosting organization and scholarship, sent us to complete Hindi research projects and their accompanying interviews. Varanasi, sitting on the river Ganga, is also known as the holiest city in … Continue reading Week 34: Varanasi

Weeks 32 & 33 February 5- 17 Boards preparation has been ongoing during my time here, and I’ve written lots about the steps of the twelfth graders. As a final (this time, I promise!) goodbye to the seniors, the NSLI-Y girls were a part of school’s farewell ceremony. It was reminiscent of both an American … Continue reading Weeks 32 & 33: Farewell and Festivals

January 7- February 4 I am now feeling adjusted to life in our school hostel & ready to get back to a normal blogging schedule. Although we return home on weekends and special occasions, I spend the school week in the dorm. I share the room with seven other girls- the four NSLI-Y girls … Continue reading Weeks 28-31: January & Boarding Schedule

December 25- January 7 After another long hiatus, I have finally figured out the hostel wifi! As I ease back into my biweekly posts, here is a look at my two week winter vacation- photojournalism style. I apologize ahead of time for the brevity, life in the hostel is paced much faster than I expected. … Continue reading Weeks 26 & 27: Sardiyon ki Chutti in Photos

November 27- December 24 Sorry for the huge delay!!! When the school geared up for pre-winter break exams, things usually become more mellow for us exchange students. However, the month leading up to winter break, we turned out to have very full schedules. I enjoyed getting to spend more time with my host family and … Continue reading Weeks 22-25: December!

November 13- 26 The past two weeks have consisted of going with the flow, and having a lot of fun while doing so. Children’s Day is celebrated on November 14, the birthday of independent India’s first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru. Nehru was known for being especially affectionate with children and is sometimes referred to as … Continue reading Weeks 20 & 21: First Wedding

October 30 - November 12 The past very busy two weeks started with our Hindi teacher Parvez Sir took us to venture further into Madhya Pradesh along with two South African exchange students. Omkaheshwar, our first stop, is home to one of our state’s jyotirlinga, Shiva’s most sacred abodes. There are twelve in India, and … Continue reading Weeks 18 & 19

October 15-29 I initially thought the week-long Diwali holiday (Diwali ki Chutti) would provide a lot of free time, but we ended up with a tight (and fun!) schedule. The first few days of break, I took an overnight trip to Mandu with my host family. I had food poisoning the first day we were … Continue reading Weeks 16 & 17: Diwali ki Chutti

Throughout the past two weeks, I’ve been learning how transition brings positive challenge. Pre-Diwali break marked exams for Emerald Heights. Although most kids took exams in all six of their subjects, I took just one- English. For 12th grade (in which I take classes), these exams were the first set of pre boards, mock exams … Continue reading Weeks 14 & 15: Pre Diwali and Exams

Moving further away from homesickness and culture shock, I have surprisingly been reminded of home more often as I reach the three month mark. Our program AFS orientation is called midstay, but it actually happens about a third of the way in. I flew to Mumbai for a very busy weekend with the other five … Continue reading Weeks 12 & 13: Mumbai and Navratri